


i'll be cleaning up bottles with you on New Year's Day

by invisibleman19



Category: Never Have I Ever (TV)
Genre: F/M, New Year's Day, Pre-Relationship, cleaning after an unexpected party, i just had a vision and went with it im sorry this is a mess, this is really bad lmao
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-30
Updated: 2020-08-30
Packaged: 2021-03-06 19:54:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,190
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26194456
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/invisibleman19/pseuds/invisibleman19
Summary: After an unexpected party takes place at her house on New Year's Eve, Devi has to clean up the mess all by herself. Or so she thought.
Relationships: Paxton Hall-Yoshida/Devi Vishwakumar
Comments: 3
Kudos: 27





	i'll be cleaning up bottles with you on New Year's Day

**Author's Note:**

> okay, so listen, this is like my first fic EVER so this is not a shakespeare-worthy work lmao, but if you have any suggestions about my writing or thoughts about what's happening in the fic, feel free to write them in the comments! Enjoy!

"Ugh!" Devi groaned as she entered her living room with a trashbag in her hand. She already cleaned the kitchen with some help from Eleanor and Fabiola, who after that had to return home. She truly wanted to be done with this work and simply go to bed, but seeing the state of the living room, Devi realized that it will be a while before she can rest.

Crumbs of chips and Doritos were all over the floor and wherever she laid her eyes she could see empty bottles and beer cans. Some paper plates were laying on the floor and pizza boxes were messily scattered in the corner. There also was one big puddle of liquid under the coffee table and Devi really didn't want to guess whether it was beer, soda, vomit or a mix of it all. Confetti was everywhere - floor, table, armchair, you name it. She finally looked at the couch where two teenagers were laying on top of each other, kissing violently.

"Oh my God! Get out! The party's over!" she yelled at them and watched them scramble off the couch hoping that making out was all that happened there. 

Devi rolled her eyes and started picking up some plastic cups from the floor. This certainly was not how she expected to be spending the very first hours of New Year's Day. 

"Tough night?" she looked around to see Paxton standing in the corner.

"Does it look like I'm having fun?" Devi snapped sarcastically. She was tired and all she wanted to do was go to bed. Or watch Netflix, wrapped up in a blanket. She could even do something less fun like practicing PSATs, anything not to deal with the mess in her house. 

"No" Paxton answered, handing her an empty beer can laying in the distance. She put it in the trash bag and looked up at him.

"Thanks" Devi said, a bit embarassed by the whole situtation. "I'm sorry, it's just" she huffed and continued speaking gesturing towards the state of the living room "I have to clean all of this up before my mom comes back in the morning."

"I'll help you" Paxton offered as soon as she finished speaking. 

"Oh no, please" Devi continued clearing the nearest space, picking up some napkins "You probably have some better places to be... Isn't there some after party at Trent's?"

"There is... but... I don't mind helping" Paxton answered putting some paper plates in the trash bag.

"Yeah, right" Devi scoffed, eyeing him "Because that's how a member of the Hot Pocket wants to start a new year - cleaning up after a wild horde of teenagers." 

Paxton chuckled, but continued picking up the trash from the floor. 

"I'm gonna go get a mop for that, whatever that is" she pointed at the puddle with a disgusted expression on her face and left.

When she came back, the trash bag she just opened was almost full. The room was still a mess, but at least there were no loose beer cans and plastic cups. It appeared that Paxton had just handled half of her current problem. 

"Hey, where do I put those?" Paxton asked, lifting up all the pizza boxes that were scattered across the floor. "And do you have some sort of broom? Those chips and confetti are everywhere, it would probably be best to sweep them in one place." 

"Just put the pizza boxes next to the trash bag, I'll take them out to the recycling bins after the house is cleaned. And there is a broom in the kitchen. I think that's where Fabiola left it after helping me clean it." Devi replied and started working on that pool of unidentified substance. "How are you so quick? It's like you picked up all the trash within seconds."

"Yeah, usually there's more work so this was easy. Marcus' house is huge so whenever he throws a party, it's like Project X there" Paxton quickly walked towards the kitchen, grabbed the broom and started sweeping the floor. They both fell into silence as they started working. All that could be heard was Devi mopping and the sound of the broom's bristles against the floor.

"So" Paxton started, trying to make conversation "How did you enjoy the party overall?"

"I barely did anything fun" Devi scoffed "I was either making sure nothing gets broken or trying to minimize the amount of trash thrown on the floor"

"Having a party isn't so fun anymore, huh?" Paxton looked at her smiling.

"I didn't want to have it!" Devi stopped moving the mop to look at Paxton "It was supposed to be just me, Fabiola, Eve, Eleanor and Oliver. And that's who I told Ben to invite but _clearly_ , he misunderstood and invited half of the school over!"

"Yeah, uh, where is he?" Paxton asked unsurely "I think I saw you together like an hour ago, before you told everyone to go home." 

"I don't know and I don't really care... he's probably showing off his dad's Porsche to some freshmen and telling them about how he met Lisa Vanderpump." Devi replied, rolling her eyes.

Paxton smirked.

"Are you two alright?" he asked with a slight hope in his voice, which Devi didn't seem to notice. Devi and Ben started dating around the time when Paxton just began his apologizing process, but the train had already left the station. Devi and Ben were a thing and there was nothing Paxton could do about it, except curse himself for not talking to her sooner.

Devi took a quick breath in. "Yeah, it just would have been nice if the reason why I have to deal with a mixture of alcohol and vomit would help."

She felt his gaze on her and she quickly decided to change the topic of the conversation.

"Uh, do you have any New Year's resolutions?" She returned to mopping the floor looking down at it, but internally cringed at her question. Are New Year's resolutions still a thing? She, the smartest girl in her class, really couldn't come up with something better?

"Not really, you?"

"Just doing everything I can to get into Princeton, nothing unusual"

They continued working, ocassionally finding a new piece of trash to throw away. They kept glancing at each other, sometimes cracking a joke or asking a light-hearted question. It would always be followed by a stretch of silence, but it wasn't an awkward one, it was as if they knew each other very well and were content with simply the presence of one another. 

Devi couldn't help but notice how Paxton didn't even complain once about staying here and having to clean. She looked at him curiously. He surely had more pleasant things to do, so why was he here? Why did he volunteer to help her when he could go home or get drunk at Trent's house? Who would want to spend their time sweeping the floor surrounded by this nasty smell? It just didn't make sense to her. Paxton noticed that she stopped working, so he turned around to discover Devi looking at him.

"Everything alright?" he asked, a bit amused.

"Um, yeah" she quickly realized that she might have stared a bit too long and tried to somehow switch the focus of attention to something else "Uh, do you want to take out the trash and pizza boxes?" Devi looked around the living room, noticing how their teamwork paid off, because the confetti, loose plastic cups and other signs of a party were gone. "I think we're done here." 

"Sure" 

Paxton put back the broom in the kitchen, took the trash bag and pizza boxes in his hand and carried them to the front door, where Devi already stood putting on her jacket. Paxton mirrored her actions.

"You should put on a beanie and maybe even gloves" Paxton recommended as he put his own on.

"It's not Siberia, you know?" Devi laughed at his advice.

"It's really cold outside." Paxton grabbed the trash bag and pizza boxes in one hand and opened the door with the other "Like I don't remember the last time the temperature was this low here."

"I think I'll manage, but thanks Mom!" Devi walked out the front door, passing a smirking Paxton

Devi and Paxton walked towards the recycling bins that were on the sidewalk in front of her house. They put the remnants of the unexpected party in the proper trash cans and walked back to the porch. Devi felt exhausted and was done with the whole clean-up, and even though it was cold (just like Paxton said) she sat down on the stairs leading to the house and sighed loudly. 

"I'm sooo tired" Devi groaned as Paxton sat down next to her. "I'm never throwing a party _ever_ again."

"Well, technically you didn't throw it" Paxton looked at her "Maybe if Gross would have listened, you wouldn't have to spend the begining of the new year cleaning vomit"

Paxton's knee was touching hers. Their sides were almost glued to each other, but none of them minded. It was comfortable and it provided some heat. 

"So you think it was vomit?" Devi turned her head to see Paxton and now they were looking into each other's eyes "That's a bit easy Paxton, I'm sure it was something nastier"

"If you say so" Paxton laughed, but quickly noticed that Devi was shivering "Are you cold?"

"Um, a bit, guess you were right about the temperature." Devi replied sheepishly

Paxton took a scarf out of his jacket pocket, carefully reached behind Devi's head and tied it around her neck, his hands momentarily touching her skin.

"This might help, but you'll have to go back home soon or else you'll freeze."

"Damn, what other piece of winter clothing do you casually carry around?" Devi looked at him suspiciously "Is there a ski mask in your other pocket?"

Paxton shook his head, corners of his mouth slightly up.

"But seriously, thanks for the scarf"

"No problem" Paxton looked at her with that warm gaze of his and for a split moment they just stared at each other. The feeling of cold, the exhaustion from doing the dirty work, her fury at the unexpected party disappeared. They were so close, they could feel each other's warm breath on their faces. Devi looked at his lips, which were now slightly parted. Paxton leaned in, just an inch, his eyes set on hers. He licked his lips and Devi swallowed slowly, forgetting that she had a boyfriend who would probably more than mind his girlfriend hanging out with and being so close to a guy who, if one thing had been different, would be her boyfriend right now. What was happening and why did he have that effect on her? Was he even aware of it? Devi felt as if she was going to pass out right there, in that second, because the way he looked at her, his closeness, his lips, the heat emitting from his body was too much to handle.

Suddenly, they heard a loud ring, causing both of them to startle. Paxton reluctantly pulled back and reached into his pocket to dig out his phone, leaving Devi to realize that she got so caught up in that fleeting moment that she almost kissed him. She found herself letting a breath escape her mouth, because oh, right. She held it for a bit too long, getting lost in the sight of Paxton's face.

"It's Trent" Paxton said looking at the text.

"Is he also in need of your cleaning services?" Devi asked, still not quite sure about what had just happened. Would they kiss just like after Ben's party, hadn't the text arrived so loudly? 

"He probably is" Paxton nodded and started to put his phone back into his pocket "Will you be alright on your own?" 

"Sure" Devi gave him a tight-lipped smile.

"Still, it's really cold, so make sure to go inside soon" Paxton suggested in a tender tone.

Devi smirked at his attempt to take care of her. What next, was he going to pull out a thermos and a blanket and wrap her up in it?

"Okay, I'm gonna head there now" she stood up and so did Paxton

"Alright, well, I'll see you at school" Paxton send her a quick smile and started walking towards the sidewalk next to her lawn.

"Paxton?" Devi said, causing him to turn around "Thank you for staying and helping me with the clean-up"

"Of course" Paxton replied with a smile "Happy New Year, Devi" 

Paxton turned around and walked back to his Jeep, but Devi didn't even budge. She stood there on the porch, staring at his slowly disappearing silhouette. When he was no longer in the line of sight, she turned around, and returned to her house, feeling an immiediate wave of heat. She closed the door, leaning on it. Devi smiled to herself, just like after that kiss in his Jeep, forever ago, putting her hands in the scarf he gave her. Maybe, that party wasn't so bad after all.


End file.
